BMG‘s financial results for the first half of 2019 are in.
The Bertelsmann-owned company saw its revenues rise 11.4% year-on-year in the six months to end of June, hitting €269m ($305m).
That was up on the €241m posted in the prior year period, with the increase “driven primarily by organic growth”, according to Bertelsmann.
Operating EBITDA, meanwhile, increased by 16.7% to €49m ($56m). In the equivalent period of 2018, that operating EBITDA figure reached €42m.
In the first half of this year, said Bertelsmann, the share of BMG’s total revenues attributable to digital formats increased to 56% (H1 2018: 54%), “reflecting continuing growth in the digital streaming market”.
In BMG’s recordings business, the first half of 2019 saw successful releases by artists including Keith Richards, Kylie Minogue, Lil Dicky, Avril Lavigne, Dido, The Cranberries, AJR and Adel Tawil, as well as No.1 albums by Jack Savoretti (UK) and Kontra K (DE).
New record contracts were signed with The Shires, Seeed, the Zac Brown Band, Sugar Ray and Richard Marx.
In the music publishing segment, BMG’s standout successes included Lewis Capaldi, whose worldwide hit “Someone You Love” has now sold over three million equivalent copies, and Juice WRLD, who scored his first US No.1 album.
In February, BMG songwriters were behind a record 24 number-one hits across the Billboard charts, said Bertelsmann.
New publishing agreements were signed with Cage the Elephant, AnnenMayKantereit and Jason Duke in the period.
Major transactions during the first half of the year included an extension of the company’s relationship with Black Sabbath, the launch of the new Trojan Jamaica label and an extension of BMG’s global music publishing partnership with Latin music label DEL Records.
BMG launched its 15th international office, in Hong Kong, to further strengthen its footprint in the Asian market.Music Business Worldwide
